An integrated FoodNet in North East India: fostering one health approach to fortify public health
Abstract Background Food safety is a critical factor in promoting public health and nutrition, especially in developing countries like India, which experience several foodborne disease outbreaks, often with multidrug-resistant pathogens. Therefore, implementing regular surveillance of enteric pathog...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-02-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18007-w |
| _version_ | 1797272875745411072 |
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| author | Madhuchhanda Das Venencia Albert Samaresh Das Karma Gurmey Dolma Tapan Majumdar Pranjal Jyoti Baruah Suranjana Chaliha Hazarika Basumoti Apum Thandavarayan Ramamurthy |
| author_facet | Madhuchhanda Das Venencia Albert Samaresh Das Karma Gurmey Dolma Tapan Majumdar Pranjal Jyoti Baruah Suranjana Chaliha Hazarika Basumoti Apum Thandavarayan Ramamurthy |
| author_sort | Madhuchhanda Das |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Food safety is a critical factor in promoting public health and nutrition, especially in developing countries like India, which experience several foodborne disease outbreaks, often with multidrug-resistant pathogens. Therefore, implementing regular surveillance of enteric pathogens in the human-animal-environment interface is necessary to reduce the disease burden in the country. Objective To establish a network of laboratories for the identification of major food and waterborne pathogens prevailing in the northeast region of India through integrated surveillance of animal, food, human, and environment and investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the pathogens of public health significance. Methods The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has identified FoodNet laboratories; based on their geographical location, inclination to undertake the study, preparedness, proficiency, and adherence to quality assurance procedures, through an 8-step process to systematically expand to cover the Northeastern Region (NER) with comprehensive diagnostic capacities for foodborne pathogens and diarrhea outbreak investigations. Network initiated in the NER given the unique food habits of the ethnic population. Findings This surveillance network for foodborne enteric pathogens was established in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Sikkim, and expanded to other four states, i.e., Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Nagaland, thereby covering the entire NER by including nine medical and three veterinary centers. All these centers are strengthened with periodic training, technical support, funding, capacity building, quality assurance, monitoring, centralized digital data management, and website development. Results The ICMR-FoodNet will generate NER-specific data with close to real-time reporting of foodborne disease and outbreaks, and facilitate the updating of food safety management protocols, policy reforms, and public health outbreak response. During 2020-2023, 13,981 food samples were tested and the detection of enteric pathogens ranged from 3 to 4%. In clinical samples, the detection rate of the pathogens was high in the diarrheal stools (8.9%) when 3,107 samples were tested. Thirteen outbreaks were investigated during the study period. Conclusion Foodborne diseases and outbreaks are a neglected subject. Given the frequent outbreaks leading to the deaths of children, it is crucial to generate robust data through well-established surveillance networks so that a strong food safety policy can be developed for better public health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:36:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-144bfeaad53b4721b248cc5624f24e2d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:36:33Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-144bfeaad53b4721b248cc5624f24e2d2024-03-05T20:37:19ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582024-02-0124111110.1186/s12889-024-18007-wAn integrated FoodNet in North East India: fostering one health approach to fortify public healthMadhuchhanda Das0Venencia Albert1Samaresh Das2Karma Gurmey Dolma3Tapan Majumdar4Pranjal Jyoti Baruah5Suranjana Chaliha Hazarika6Basumoti Apum7Thandavarayan Ramamurthy8Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)Center for Development of Advanced ComputingSikkim Manipal Institute of Medical SciencesAgartala Government Medical CollegeICMR-Regional Medical Research CentreGauhati Medical College and HospitalBankin Pertin General Hospital & Research InstituteICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric DiseasesAbstract Background Food safety is a critical factor in promoting public health and nutrition, especially in developing countries like India, which experience several foodborne disease outbreaks, often with multidrug-resistant pathogens. Therefore, implementing regular surveillance of enteric pathogens in the human-animal-environment interface is necessary to reduce the disease burden in the country. Objective To establish a network of laboratories for the identification of major food and waterborne pathogens prevailing in the northeast region of India through integrated surveillance of animal, food, human, and environment and investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the pathogens of public health significance. Methods The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has identified FoodNet laboratories; based on their geographical location, inclination to undertake the study, preparedness, proficiency, and adherence to quality assurance procedures, through an 8-step process to systematically expand to cover the Northeastern Region (NER) with comprehensive diagnostic capacities for foodborne pathogens and diarrhea outbreak investigations. Network initiated in the NER given the unique food habits of the ethnic population. Findings This surveillance network for foodborne enteric pathogens was established in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Sikkim, and expanded to other four states, i.e., Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Nagaland, thereby covering the entire NER by including nine medical and three veterinary centers. All these centers are strengthened with periodic training, technical support, funding, capacity building, quality assurance, monitoring, centralized digital data management, and website development. Results The ICMR-FoodNet will generate NER-specific data with close to real-time reporting of foodborne disease and outbreaks, and facilitate the updating of food safety management protocols, policy reforms, and public health outbreak response. During 2020-2023, 13,981 food samples were tested and the detection of enteric pathogens ranged from 3 to 4%. In clinical samples, the detection rate of the pathogens was high in the diarrheal stools (8.9%) when 3,107 samples were tested. Thirteen outbreaks were investigated during the study period. Conclusion Foodborne diseases and outbreaks are a neglected subject. Given the frequent outbreaks leading to the deaths of children, it is crucial to generate robust data through well-established surveillance networks so that a strong food safety policy can be developed for better public health.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18007-wBacteria, DiarrheaEnteric infectionsFoodborne diseasesFoodborne pathogenFoodNetNetwork evaluation |
| spellingShingle | Madhuchhanda Das Venencia Albert Samaresh Das Karma Gurmey Dolma Tapan Majumdar Pranjal Jyoti Baruah Suranjana Chaliha Hazarika Basumoti Apum Thandavarayan Ramamurthy An integrated FoodNet in North East India: fostering one health approach to fortify public health BMC Public Health Bacteria, Diarrhea Enteric infections Foodborne diseases Foodborne pathogen FoodNet Network evaluation |
| title | An integrated FoodNet in North East India: fostering one health approach to fortify public health |
| title_full | An integrated FoodNet in North East India: fostering one health approach to fortify public health |
| title_fullStr | An integrated FoodNet in North East India: fostering one health approach to fortify public health |
| title_full_unstemmed | An integrated FoodNet in North East India: fostering one health approach to fortify public health |
| title_short | An integrated FoodNet in North East India: fostering one health approach to fortify public health |
| title_sort | integrated foodnet in north east india fostering one health approach to fortify public health |
| topic | Bacteria, Diarrhea Enteric infections Foodborne diseases Foodborne pathogen FoodNet Network evaluation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18007-w |
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